US government injects confusion into Venezuela's 2024 presidential election
World
US government injects confusion into Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The U.S. government injected confusion into next year’s presidential election in Venezuela on Friday by incorrectly suggesting opposition leader Maria Corina Machado had filed an appeal to reverse her ban on running for office.
Machado subsequently sidestepped questions about whether she had been pressured by the Biden administration to appear before Venezuela’s highest court, but she made a veiled criticism of the U.S. comment, saying she wished she had been able to announce her actions herself.
A tweet from the U.S. government’s unit that oversees Venezuelan affairs praised Machado’s “courage and willingness” to appeal the ban. But as she left the country’s highest court Friday evening, she told reporters she did not file an appeal because she has not been officially notified of the ban announced against her in June.
“I am not going to resort to that procedure,” she said of the appeal process.
Instead, Machado, a longtime foe of the ruling party and winner of an opposition presidential primary, said she had established before the court a claim “that there is no disqualification” against her.
With her campaign’s attorney by her side, Machado said her legitimacy as a candidate comes from Venezuelan voters, not the government.
Asked at a later news conference whether the Biden administration had pressured her to appear before Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice, she said only that her campaign has had conversations with supporters of the opposition.
“I repeat, we are in the middle of a complex, difficult negotiation, and of course we are in contact with all those allies who have established commitments and who have given guarantees and have given important incentives for this negotiation process to advance,” she said from her campaign’s headquarters in Caracas.
